Aqueti, a new company commercialising digital gigapixel photographic technology, has just released a new set of interactive photographs for public access. The set includes the 2013 Duke University Commencement, including commencement speaker Melinda Gates, and the 300th Anniversary Celebration for the City of Edenton, North Carolina. You can explore and share these photographs on gigapan.com, as well as zoom in and tag yourself via Facebook in the 2013 Duke Commencement GigaTag image. “Beautiful high-resolution panoramas are often taken using robotic camera scanners, but our snapshots capture the entire scene in one moment,” said David Brady, CEO of Aqueti, Inc. “The raucous applause may have died down, but Aqueti captured close-ups of the entire crowd’s response, and each student or loved one can explore, save and relive that moment from each audience member’s perspective.”

Durham, NC – June 3, 2013 – Aqueti, a new company commercializing digital gigapixel photographic technology, today released a new set of interactive photographs for public access. The set includes the 2013 Duke University Commencement, including commencement speaker Melinda Gates, and the 300th Anniversary Celebration for the City of Edenton, North Carolina. The press and public are encouraged to explore and share these groundbreaking photographs on gigapan.com. Users can also zoom in and tag themselves via Facebook in the 2013 Duke Commencement GigaTag image. The company used the prototype of their Aware2 camera at the Duke 2013 Commencement ceremony, taking more than 400 pictures and previewing them with the ‘fast stitching engine.’ One defining moment has been rendered in high-quality and is available to faculty, graduates and their families for exploration, tagging and sharing.

“Beautiful high-resolution panoramas are often taken using robotic camera scanners, but our snapshots capture the entire scene in one moment,” said David Brady, CEO of Aqueti, Inc. “The raucous applause may have died down, but Aqueti captured close-ups of the entire crowd’s response, and each student or loved one can explore, save and relive that moment from each audience member’s perspective.”

Aqueti’s approach to panoramic pictures instantly captures a single moment, with 10 times the detail of 20/20 vision. Aware2 cameras are made up of hundreds of mini-cameras capturing images with one glass ball lens. High-speed electronics stitch the images together, resulting in an image with more than 1 billion pixels (1 gigapixel), or 40 times bigger than SLR and 125 times bigger than cell phone images.

“Aqueti’s gigapixel camera represents the future of photography, a perfect juxtaposition for the 300 th birthday of Edenton, NC,” said Bob Quinn, Edenton Town Councilman and Chairman of the 300th Anniversary Planning Committee. “The photos that came from this camera are amazing; attendees, ranging from the Governor’s staff to children, have been blown away by what they’re able to see.

Everyone enjoys searching the pictures and finding their families and friends.”“GigaPan is thrilled to collaborate with Aqueti to create and share high-resolution images,” says Susan Thesing, Vice President of Business Development and Marketing. “By hosting these images on gigapan.com and incorporating our interactive digital services, it creates a dynamic and immersive way for fans to interact with gigapixel images.”

Aqueti is the midst of commercializing the camera and associated photography services after its successful DARPA-funded prototype development at Duke University. Its recently launched Kickstarter campaign, which runs May 20 – June 19, 2013, has a goal of raising at least $25,000 to bring the world’s first gigapixel digital camera to the rest of North Carolina, giving residents instant access to endless unique perspectives of the events.

“For our Kickstarter tour this summer, we want to make more of these moments like we did for the citizens of Edenton and the students at Duke,” said Scott McCain, Aqueti Vice President. “We look forward to offering more citizens of North Carolina the opportunity to experience the thrill of experiencing and reliving a BIG moment from our camera tour.”

ABOUT AQUETI
Aqueti (pronounced a-kyoo-a-tee) is a Durham, NC-based company developing new approaches to taking and sharing pictures – on a big scale. The company manufactures and markets patented gigapixel cameras and resultant imaging services. Aqueti was founded in 2013 as a spinoff of Applied Quantum Technologies, a research and development company created as a transition vehicle for Duke University research. To learn more, connect with us on Kickstarter, Facebook, LinkedIn and Twitter.

ABOUT GIGAPAN
GigaPan offers a complete platform to create, view and share high resolution, interactive gigapixel photography. Pioneered by NASA's Mars Rover Program in conjunction with Carnegie Mellon University and Google, GigaPan commercially spun off in 2008 to bring gigapixel imagery to photographers, educators, and image creators. Our technology includes a range of pano heads for photographers to shoot images; software for image stitching; a robust infrastructure to upload, host and serve images; and a suite of digital services to view, explore and share images. GigaPan is inspired to immerse the world in the wonder and clarity of the highest resolution visual experiences. To learn more, visit gigapan.com and connect with us on Facebook and Twitter.